Here is a folding campfire grate that was reproduced using the dimensions listed in the 1907 and 1908 A&F catalog. They were sold in three sizes, grates with either 4, 6, or 8 arms.
Two images of the grates can be seen in these illustrations by Henry Watson below (1907 and 1921).
The campfire grates are made from 5/16"X1"x18" flat bar riveted together.

Thanks for the images of when A&F was earning the reputation that the modern A&F squandered. There's a real nostalgia, at least with me, about that period in American woodsmanship. And I'd love to see those high leather boots make a comeback. They make so much sense! Did you make the reproduction or did you find it somewhere?

I was going to make it up myself as it is a fairly simple project but I didn’t have the right size stock on hand. I wanted the dimensions to be true to the original so I had a blacksmith make one up for me. Cutting the lengths. Rounding the corners, drilling or hot punching holes and installing rivets is about all there is to it.

That’s really cool, looks heavy though. “Back when the men were made iron, and the ships were made of wood”, they probably didn’t notice the weight. I have a wee trench grill made of stainless tube steel. It weighs only a five ounces and I fret at the weight of it...

Yes, it is over 8 pounds. With early camping items, compact-ability was often the focus more than the weight since the basic materials of construction were more limited. This will hold very heavy pots. This design could certainly be lightened/updated with lighter metals and drilled holes etc.. but then you no longer have a vintage grate...

Yes, it is over 8 pounds. With early camping items, compact-ability was often the focus more than the weight since the basic materials of construction were more limited. This will hold very heavy pots. This design could certainly be lightened/updated with lighter metals and drilled holes etc.. but then you no longer have a vintage grate...

Fantastic! I agree with the others - what a fantastic time it would have been back then. I, too, would love to see more camping items from that time period.

Sadly, and item like this wouldn't work so well with today's fire rings or burn bans.

Click to expand...

Not always practical I understand but this is one of the reasons I try my hardest to camp exclusively on private land. In order to camp the way that people camped during the time period that interests me, I want to be able to cut a few poles, build the kind of fire I want and generally do as I please. I’m not talking about destroying a place but just using it responsibly. Public lands with excessive regulations have little appeal to me anymore. I do practice strict leave no trace on public lands like that...simply by not going.

It’s important to view items like this with a historical context. Recreational backpacking as we know it today didn’t really exist. It was a big project just getting to where you were going and so trips were longer. Parties camped for weeks or even a month at a time. Imagine just the food for a party of six for a month. Carrying it all in on your back very often wasn’t done. Horses, mules, wagons, rail, canoes and eventually automobiles were the way to get things moving. People hiked or tramped about but they may have just carried lunch and few items in a pack, returning to a more permanent camp supplied by conveyance other than people carrying packs.

Over time backpacking, hiking and camping all started to mean the same thing. People took short trips on foot and the gear needed to do it changed to suit that activity. It changed “camping” and the “gear” almost to a point of being unrecognizable from what it once was. It is a persistent notion that is easily observed on this forum. Look at any new piece of gear post and almost immediately the question of weight comes up.

An eight pound grate seems crazy to some but you have to look at it with an underlying view of the time frame and culture.

I don’t mean to imply that folks didn’t throw a pack on and head into the woods for a weekend, they certainly did. It just wasn’t a popular enough activity with the masses to shape the manufacturing and retail of equipment or “outfits” until closer to the 1930s. The differences in gear in catalogs from the early 1900s and catalogs from the 1940s is quite noticeable.

Not always practical I understand but this is one of the reasons I try my hardest to camp exclusively on private land. In order to camp the way that people camped during the time period that interests me, I want to be able to cut a few poles, build the kind of fire I want and generally do as I please. I’m not talking about destroying a place but just using it responsibly. Public lands with excessive regulations have little appeal to me anymore. I do practice strict leave no trace on public lands like that...simply by not going.

Click to expand...

Know that I am envious that you have places where you can go and camp how you like. Rock on!!

It’s important to view items like this with a historical context. Recreational backpacking as we know it today didn’t really exist. It was a big project just getting to where you were going and so trips were longer. Parties camped for weeks or even a month at a time. Imagine just the food for a party of six for a month. Carrying it all in on your back very often wasn’t done. Horses, mules, wagons, rail, canoes and eventually automobiles were the way to get things moving. People hiked or tramped about but they may have just carried lunch and few items in a pack, returning to a more permanent camp supplied by conveyance other than people carrying packs.

Over time backpacking, hiking and camping all started to mean the same thing. People took short trips on foot and the gear needed to do it changed to suit that activity. It changed “camping” and the “gear” almost to a point of being unrecognizable from what it once was. It is a persistent notion that is easily observed on this forum. Look at any new piece of gear post and almost immediately the question of weight comes up.

An eight pound grate seems crazy to some but you have to look at it with an underlying view of the time frame and culture.

I don’t mean to imply that folks didn’t throw a pack on and head into the woods for a weekend, they certainly did. It just wasn’t a popular enough activity with the masses to shape the manufacturing and retail of equipment or “outfits” until closer to the 1930s. The differences in gear in catalogs from the early 1900s and catalogs from the 1940s is quite noticeable.

Click to expand...

I think this product would be one of those things where someone would have stashed at a regular camp location. Like an annual hunting or fishing camp. The steel would easily survive many years of use exposed to the elements left in place. It also would work for cooking on a key hole fire where the cooking side was sided with bowling ball sized boulders/rocks too.

Stability for large communal water boiling comes to mind for its regular usage. Also, I could see it accompanying a Wannigan chuck box.

I think this product would be one of those things where someone would have stashed at a regular camp location. Like an annual hunting or fishing camp. The steel would easily survive many years of use exposed to the elements left in place. It also would work for cooking on a key hole fire where the cooking side was sided with bowling ball sized boulders/rocks too.

Stability for large communal water boiling comes to mind for its regular usage. Also, I could see it accompanying a Wannigan chuck box.

Click to expand...

I think that is a good point about stashing it at a camp. Maybe that is why I have never seen an original one. On the other hand a dollar was a good deal of money at the time, I'm not sure they would leave it. I thought about it in a canoe with a wannigan as well. To be honest I don't know when boiling became a common practice for drinking water but I would almost bet not many were boiling any water for drinking purposes in the early 1900s other than for tea and coffee. Cooking , dish washing and maybe some laundry would require some boiling/heating in quantity but when a spring or creek was nearby I think they just drank it straight up. Probably some whiskey thrown in too.